IKEA North Lakes set to open before Christmas

QUEENSLAND'S second IKEA store is on track to open in time for Christmas 2016, much to the delight of Sunshine Coast and north Brisbane shoppers as well as job hunters.

More than 250 jobs will be created with the opening of the store at North Lakes, with an additional 150 builders contracting on site as part of the development.

Among those staff will be Store Manager Stefano Bizzarri, whose appointment was announced today.

Mr Bizzarri has previously worked within IKEA in Italy, Sweden and most recently in China.

The newly appointed Sales, Customer Relations, HR and Marketing Managers all hail from North Lakes and surrounding areas.

With the leadership team now in place, recruitment for the bulk of IKEA North Lakes co-workers is expected to start soon.

The North Lakes store will be two levels and similar in size to the IKEA Logan at 29,000sqm. It is set to include an IKEA showroom, Markethall, Self Serve Warehouse, Swedish Food Market, Bistro and restaurant.

Fitted out with 2,000 solar panels, estimated to generate a quarter of energy consumed by the store, IKEA North Lakes will be one of the most sustainable IKEA stores to date, built in line with the principles of the IKEA People and Planet Positive Strategy, which aims to be energy independent by 2020.

The opening of the North Lakes store is part of a long term expansion plan for IKEA in Australia, which will see the retailer double its presence in the country with more full-size stores and a number of pick up locations.